roof repair

[rod1701]

I have got the body work on the bed about as good as I can.

Fenders and doors are work in progress but coming along. Buddy has a used hood that isn't bad but my problem is my roof. Looks like someone used it as a trampoline. I haven't broke out the suction cups yet but think the dents forward and on the drivers side will come out pretty good. Main concern is the rear passengers side. At the seam dent is so deep it rolled the back forward. I'm hoping a suction cup and slide hammer puller will get me close enough.

Any advice?

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

My bil has a tab spot welder for a slide hammer, and I borrowed it one time to church up a bed I had. I knew it wasn't going to be perfect, but it was more of a lesson to be learned from.

I was able to from the vantage point I have get the dents that looked worse pretty much out. The big advantage I had was that I could use 2x4's as blocks for hammering larger sections. You won't have that kind of access.

Also if you have a propane brush burner you can heat up large sections making them easier to pull out because the metal will become more plastic. Especially if a crease is involved.

Lastly if your going for perfect. Buy many cans of cheap gloss black paint to see imperfections that are hard to see otherwise.

One thing I saw at a car show one time was some one welded a portion of a hood onto his roofs cab to give it a body line. You could use that to cover alot of sin if your trying for custom.

[rod1701]

I think we are on the same page.

Pound the hell out of it, get it as close as I can, and planning a faux-tina that will leave roof mostly in a rusty red primer color.

[mongocanfly]

Those areas that are stretched need shrunk..a shrinking disc can handle that...I'd be suprised if a suction cup would pull them out and make them stay..
A stud puller might be able to pull that crease out of the rear corner...its hard to see how bad it is

[cadillac_al]

I can't remember the last time I looked at the roof on my trucks. I drag a broom across them every snow storm but never look up there. I wouldn't be spending a lot of time on body work up there.

[rod1701]

A few better pics of the roof and problem spots.

Googled the shrinking disc yesterday, cool tool. Unfortunately unable to get behind and hammer. Likely to pull and slide hammer what I can and then see what can be heated and shrunk.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I am looking at your seams. I would run a mapp gas torch over them, and wire brush the rust out. Then add some navel jelly or the rust converter of your choice to the seam.

My old project 66 F100 had that as does my 65 G10. Depending on your skill you can try to mig weld the 2 halfs together which can be tricky. Or I am getting ready to try body solder right now to fix my lower doors on my G10.

[mongocanfly]

I believe a slide hammer may get that crease out of the corner..
I watched several shrinking disc videos and MP&C recommended I get one...the easier one to use is the small one..you can run it with one hand and have the wet rag in the other...the big disc I got is almost a 2 man job...its amazing what the disc will do
that rusted out spot is cause for concern

[rod1701]

Yeah, a little trouble around that drip rail. Bed to pul that off and see what’s behind it. I think that small rust thru is all There is. Hopefully not just the tip
Of the iceberg.

[Danmcg]

That looks like a candidate for a new roof panel, but probably more then you want to spend.
I'd try the suction cup on the smaller dents, pull on the cup while tapping in the rim of the dent with a body hammer.